Dispatch #18 (August 2024)

By David Eisinger · View original post

Our boy’s two months old today! Look at this little dude.

We did a newborn photo shoot with G. Lin Photography, though no one told Nevie she wasn’t the star.

We took the kids to a few Bulls games. Snacks consumed: many. Baseball consumed: none.

I finished Nev’s art table as well as a few other small projects. I doubt I’ll ever be a great (or even good) woodworker, but I derive considerable satisfaction from building simple pieces and quickly modifying things around the house.

I signed up for Bull City Race Fest half-marathon for what’ll be the third year in a row. It is so hot out right now that afternoon long runs aren’t really tenable, but night runs work well with my screwed up sleep schedule (though that’s how I turned my ankle something fierce last year). Knowing I need to be able to run 13 miles in a few short months is doing wonders for my discipline.

Randomly:

• I needed to replace the roof on my house, and for the first time in my life, I needed to collect bids and select a vendor. I’m used to being in the opposite role as a consultant trying to win work, and so it was weird being the one getting pitched instead of pitching, and in a domain I know next-to-nothing about. It definitely gave me more empathy for what our clients go through in selecting a technical partner. I ended up with a company that was price competitive and just gave me a good gut feeling, and I’m happy with the result.

• I’ve been thinking about the authors whose worldviews really speak to me, like David Roth, Ed Zitron, and Molly White. I was initially drawn to these folks because they were able to eloquently express thoughts and feelings I was already having about topics like blockchain, AI, and capitalism more broadly. But over time, I’ve consumed more and more of this content in an increasingly unquestioning way. I find my views getting increasingly extreme, and I’ve sort of lost the ability to relate to people who feel more positively about these things.

This month:

• Adventure: Rehoboth Beach with my family. We’ve done this trip for the last four years, and every year the number of children in attendance has increased by one, a trend that simply cannot continue.
• Project: This is one of my favorite albums, and here’s how they describe the creation process: “write and record a collection of drum-free samples, then flip them into an albums’ worth of beats.” I’d like to produce a track in this style this month.
• Skill: Finger drumming / drum programming in general

Reading:

• Fiction: Moonbound, Robin Sloan – quite a departure from Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore but I’m digging it so far; I like an absurd story told in a straightforward way
• Non-fiction: The World Beyond Your Head, Matthew B. Crawford – I’ve read another book by this author, Shop Class as Soulcraft, and Tom MacWright spoke highly of this one in his recent update and review

Links:

• Time travelling for parents

  One day, you’ll pick up your child for the last time. You’ll change the last diaper, give the last piggyback ride, read the last bedtime story. But this is the crucial point: You will never know it’s the last time when it happens. It’ll slip by, unnoticed.

• The moral bankruptcy of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz

  Two of Silicon Valley’s famous venture capitalists make the case for backing Trump: that their ability to make money is the only value that matters.

• Microfeatures I Love in Blogs and Personal Websites

  In this time, I’ve been on the lookout for ways to improve the site, and I’ve seen quite a few little things that are nice to use, but relatively easy to implement. They don’t really make or break a website; the absence of such features might be noticed, but will not cause any disruption for the reader. On the other hand, their presence serves as a QoL enhancement.

• A Diminishing Portfolio of Enthusiasms

  In other words, don’t melt into your couch and stop living. Don’t give up on life just because your portfolio of enthusiasms has diminished. There are always ways to squeeze more out of life, even if you’re old and less able to do the things you used to.

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